My dear Irfa'a family,
Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi ta'ala wabarakatuhu,
By the great grace and mercy of Allah ﷻ may this find you well wherever you are. We have been through two very difficult years and we are yet facing more uncertainty ahead. These times however, should not come as a surprise to us Muslims – as we are holders of a great store of knowledge of what is to happen to humanity. We are the nation who has the preserved prophecies of the last Messenger
of God ﷺ.
Therefore, let none of us complain of surprise or bewilderment, but rather reproach our ownselves, that perhaps we have not studied, or spent time seeking to get to know this knowledge, and are therefore weaker and more confused than we should be. Indeed this is a time when the followers of Muhammed ﷺ should be leading the way for everyone around them, being those who are aware of what is happening around us, and what is to come. We should know that these times of confusion will only increase, and that the only hope for holding on to truth and light is to cling to the rope of Allah ﷻ with all one’s might.
وَٱعْتَصِمُوا۟ بِحَبْلِ ٱللَّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا۟ ۚ
And hold fast to the rope of Allah, all of you together, and do not divide…
Quran 3:103
عَنْ أَبِي شُرَيْحٍ الْخُزَاعِيِّ قَالَ خَرَجَ عَلَيْنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى الِلَّهِ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقَالَ أَبْشِرُوا وَأَبْشِرُوا أَلَيْسَ تَشْهَدُونَ أَنْ لا إِلَهَ إِلا اللَّهُ وَأَنِّي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ قَالُوا نَعَمْ قَالَ فَإِنَّ هَذَا الْقُرْآنَ سَبَبٌ طَرَفُهُ بِيَدِ اللَّهِ وَطَرَفُهُ بِأَيْدِيكُمْ فَتَمَسَّكُوا بِهِ فَإِنَّكُمْ لَنْ تَضِلُّوا وَلَنْ تَهْلِكُوا بَعْدَهُ أَبَدًا
Abu Shurayh al-Khuza’i reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, came out to them one day and he said, “Rejoice! Do you not witness that there is no God but Allah and I am the messenger of Allah?” They said yes. The Prophet said, “Verily, this Quran is a rope. One end is in the hand of Allah and the other end is in your hands. Hold fast to it, for you will never be led astray or ruined ever again.”
Sahih Ibn Hibban. Graded as authentic (sahih)
These are times when strife is rampant, when patience is stretched thin, when difficulties are mounting. We are witnessing the growing injustices and conflicts in Yemen (a country where strong scholarly lineages from the time of our prophet ﷺ existed), increasing political instability in West Africa (where the knowledge from the great Islamic city of learning- Timbuktu, that was just beginning to be unearthed and secured is now threatened), growing warmongering in eastern Europe (a nexus for many civilizational changes in our world history), and the festering-to-the-breaking point conflicts in the middle east. At the same time, the pandemic which should have acted as a ‘great leveler’ has instead increased the division between rich and poor; the richest few have seen their wealth doubled or tripled, while millions of people are being pushed daily into poverty across the globe.
These situations are enough to break the strongest of people if they have no source of Divine support. Yet we are the incredibly and unfathomably rich ones, who have this never-ending, never-breaking source of Divine help. But it is up to us, to reach out our hand and grab hold of that help. This is the burden of your free choice. You must choose to run to your Lord. Running to your Lord means you have to run away from everything that is not your Lord. For;
مَّا جَعَلَ ٱللَّهُ لِرَجُلٍ مِّن قَلْبَيْنِ فِى جَوْفِهِۦ ۚ
Allah has never put two hearts in the chest of a man…
Quran 33:4
This is the essence of the purpose of the greatly portentous times we are living in. That is, we are going through a time in human history that acts as a ‘great sorting out’ – a great shaking up, to see where we fall. Where will you run? What is the first place you turn to for help? That will indicate to you what is in your heart.
Our prophet ﷺ told us we would face such situations. And he told us (as seen in the above hadith) to rejoice! He told us what to do and how to face this time. The one who can remain steadfast upon his path, strong upon his faith, and be a light for all around him, is the one able to be strongly connected by this rope that ties you to Allah ﷻ. And now more than ever, you will be tested. Holding on to the rope of Allah will test how much you can let go of everything you look to help you other than Allah ﷻ. You cannot hold on to Allah’s rope, if you are holding on to other ropes.
We know from hadith that not many will make it during these times. We pray that we are amongst those who do, and we pray for all humanity that they too will make it. And what is to make it? It is to come out of this our faith increased and our closeness to Allah ﷻ a living proof for us.
But the most important point is that we put in the work to succeed. Hold on to Allah’s rope. What is Allah’s rope? It takes many forms, but the strongest, best, and most powerful is the Quran. We must increase the time we spend reciting, reading, contemplating and putting the Quran into action. After this comes time you spend in worship. That is when you build that connection with Allah ﷺ
Now we are on the eve of the sacred month of Rajab. The night of the 1st of Rajab is holy and special for a number of reasons. Interested readers can do their own research on this. As I don’t want to digress. I urge myself and you all to not sleep on this night, to spend it in prayer, in contemplation, in dhikr, in reading Quran, and in much du’a. When you make du’a, pray for all people, everywhere. Make your du’a the du’a of angels. For know that if the angels say ‘ameen’ to your du’a, they are returning it onto you. We pray our Lord accepts the ‘ameen’ of the pure angels.
I recommend you recite the Surahs; Isra’, Kahf, Maryam and Taha on this blessed night. And none of you should be sleeping at 12 midnight or at 3 AM; these are powerful times in the night when worship brings great rewards. These are times it is best to be found standing in salat. So please try your best not to miss the night of Rajab 1st of this year. It should fall the night of Thursday, - Wednesday 2nd Feb. 22. (i.e., in a few hours time, depending on where you are in the world). If you can recite these 4 surahs multiple times during the month of Rajab it will be good for you. And as always, recite abundant salawat. There is no amount of salawat you can make that will harm you. So let your tongue be moist with salawat at all times.
Knowledge gives you strength. Knowing how to reap the rewards of the most sacred times will strengthen you in ways you cannot count, so I urge one more time, do not miss the blessed month of Rajab. Rajab is a month when many things open, many seeds are sown, many future successes see their birth. It is chosen by Allah ﷻ to be this way. Make use of this special sacred time, that is wisdom and intelligence.
Finally, I must thank you all for being patient with me as I continue my semi-seclusion, investing my full energy into bringing to light the Book of Islamic Cosmology. There is much to be done, and the work is very demanding. I often say, for all my years being privileged to do ‘cutting edge’ genomic research, this work is far more difficult. So, I ask for your prayers and your help in whatever form you are able to extend. InshaAllah we hope to publish the first segment as soon as it is ready. As the signs around us are increasing very rapidly, we don’t want to wait till the whole book is ready.
In the meantime, I have begun to release some talks on this topic publicly as the word has come that I do so. They are now on our Irfa'a YouTube channel and public. So please look there. I hope they will benefit you, as I am yet unable to resume our weekly classes due to writing. However 67 classes are now uploaded there! Alhamdulillah! We are also unable to keep you abreast of our activities automatically, so urge you to reach out please. Help will come to anyone who seeks it. This is Allah’s promise. I have experienced this countless times in varied situations, countries, circumstances…so be assured, Allah ﷻ will never let you go as long as you are sincere and truthful in your worship and devotion to the One who made you, who is looking after you, who is the source for all to exist and function, and to whom you are inevitably returning every moment of every day. So rejoice! This is glad news indeed for the believer. Focus on making your heart full of devotion to Allah, so that everything else you do is from Allah, by Allah, through Allah and most importantly, for Allah. Then you are holding on to Allah's rope and to no one else's. That is success.
May the blessed sacred month of Rajab be a source of great blessing, strength, power, peace, and beauty for you all. May all of us taste the great sweetness and satisfaction of fulfilling our word. Allah bless you all.